Evidence Observed: Daubert's Impact on Science and Justice

观察到的证据：道伯特？对科学和司法的影响希拉·贾桑诺夫和肖恩·奥？1993年，美国最高法院发布了一项具有里程碑意义的裁决，即道伯特诉梅雷尔陶氏制药公司一案，它改变了管理联邦法院科学证据质量和流向的规则。道伯特指责审判法官有责任充当“看门人”。科学证据，并确保这些证据既可靠又相关。该项目考察了道伯特对科学和司法的影响，并记录了在法律程序中将法律决定转化为实践的过程。具体而言，该项目解决了以下问题：该决定是否成功地实现了其主要目标：将不可靠和不相关的专家证词（俗称“垃圾科学”）排除在法庭之外？要求初审法官“像科学家一样思考”的效果是什么？道伯特在多大程度上刺激了新科学知识的产生？道伯特是否阻碍了作为证据的有效科学知识的引入？道伯特促进了正义吗？该项目将使用多种定性方法来解决这些问题。一个可搜索的数据库将被创建，包括四个“热点”司法管辖区的州和联邦决定。和限制?对道贝尔的诠释。将追踪和分析化学和药物引起的伤害索赔及其相关的证据和专门知识形式。将为两起涉及证据冲突的备受瞩目的后道伯特诉讼准备案例研究：一是关于苯丙醇胺（PPA）的诉讼，一种被怀疑会导致中风的药物；以及据称会导致免疫系统紊乱的硅胶隆胸植入物。将对审判文件和录像证词进行分析，并进行个人访谈，以深入了解道伯特案之后专家证据的使用。该项目将通过存档相关的书面文本、视频和访谈来记录和保存道伯特实施的早期历史，以便为未来的法律和科学研究人员提供帮助。项目成果还将有助于改善对法官、诉讼律师和专家证人的教育。

Evidence Observed: Daubert?s Impact on Science and JusticeSheila Jasanoff and Sean O?DonnellIn 1993, the US Supreme Court issued a landmark decision, Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., that changed the rules for managing the quality and flow of scientific evidence into federal courts. Daubert charged trial judges with the responsibility to act as ?gatekeepers? for scientific evidence and to ensure that such testimony was both reliable and relevant. This project examines the impact of Daubert on science and justice and documents the translation of a legal decision into practices in the legal process. Specifically, the project addresses the following questions:Did the decision succeed with respect to its primary objective: to keep unreliable and irrelevant expert testimony (popularly known as "junk science") out of courts? What was the effect of requiring trial judges to "think like scientists"?To what extent did Daubert stimulate the production of new scientific knowledge?Has Daubert impeded the introduction of valid scientific knowledge as evidence?Has Daubert promoted justice?The project will address these questions with a mix of qualitative methods. A searchable database will be created of state and federal decisions across four "hotspot" jurisdictions representing ?liberal? and ?restrictive? interpretations of Daubert. Claims of chemical and drug-induced injuries and their associated forms of evidence and expertise will be tracked and analyzed. Case studies will be prepared of two high-profile post-Daubert lawsuits involving evidentiary conflicts: litigation over phenylpropanolamine (PPA), a drug suspected of causing strokes; and over silicone gel breast implants, alleged to cause immune system disorders. Trial documents and videotaped testimony will be analyzed and personal interviews will be conducted to provide in-depth understanding of the uses of expert evidence after Daubert.The project will document and preserve the early history of Daubert's implementation by archiving pertinent written texts, videos, and interviews so as to assist future researchers in law and science. Project results will also help improve the education of judges, litigators, and expert witnesses.